This invention relates to storage devices, and more particularly to a rack for storing and displaying earrings.
Earrings generally comprise an ornamental body and an earpiece. "Earpiece" is defined herein as that portion of an earring which facilitates attachment to the earlobe by grasping the earlobe or by extending through a hole pierced in the earlobe. Earrings can be classified generally according to three types of earpiece: clasp, post and wire, each defined as follows. A "clasp" earring comprises an earpiece attached to the ornamental body of the earring, which earpiece includes a pivoted or spring biased member adapted to grasp the earlobe. A "post" earring comprises an earpiece having a pin or wire element, termed a post, which protrudes posteriorly a short distance outward from the ornamental body of the earring and is adapted for extending through the hole of a pierced earlobe, the earpiece further including a separate threaded or frictional retaining member which grips the post. The ornamental body of a "wire" earring attaches to and depends from the earpiece, which comprises an arcuate wire shaped like a hook or forming a loop, the wire adapted to extend through the hole of a pierced earlobe; the wire hook or loop may include a closure formed integrally by the wire or otherwise by separate elements attached thereto. In a variation of the wire earring, the ornamental portion of the earring and the wire earpiece together form a large loop or toroid, which opens at the earpiece for attachment to the earlobe.
Earring racks adapted for mounting on a planar surface such as a wall or a door are preferably relatively thin in cross section so that they can be mounted in a confined area without taking an inordinate amount of space, and so that a broad surface area is provided for displaying the jewelry and facilitating ease of selection of a particular item. Such racks, which are functional as well as attractive, generally comprise a framework of vertical members or stanchions having two or more horizontal cross members, and provided with means for retaining and storing the earrings. See for example, our copending application Ser. No. 07/148,222 for an ornamental design of an earring rack, now U.S. Pat. No. D310,926. Other storage racks are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
D248,801, Tafoya, 8/1978 PA0 D251,340, Strasser, 3/1979 PA0 D252,302, Persky, 7/1979 PA0 D291,520, Melvin, 8/1987 PA0 D291,641, Farley, 9/1987 PA0 4,264,013, Vollmer, 4/1981 PA0 4,775,053, Geiger, 10/1988 PA0 4,776,650, Ferenzi, 10/1988
Means provided on a rack for storing and retaining earrings typically include a plurality of upwardly extending slots cut through cross members of the rack along the top edges thereof. Such slots facilitate the storing especially of post earrings, although some wire earrings also can be stored in the slots, and some clasp earrings as well if the earpiece or clasp is narrow enough to fit into the slot. However, hanging the earpiece of a wire earring over the cross members into a slot and removing it therefrom has been found to be awkward and inconvenient because the ornamental body of the earring can interfere with placement of the earpiece, and if the wire earring includes a closure, the closure can cause additional interference.
Wire earrings as well as clasp earrings are more conveniently hung from holes cut through the rack cross members near the lower edges thereof. The earpiece of a clasp earring must first be opened and inserted through the hole, and wire earrings having a closure must likewise be opened in order to insert the earpiece through the hole. Post earrings can also be stored by means of the holes in the cross members by removing the retaining member from the post, inserting the post through the hole, and reinstalling the retaining member on the post from behind the cross member; however, this also has proven to be awkward and inconvenient.
A problem associated with the present invention relates to the storage of larger earrings such as those which form a toroid or circular shaped ornamental body. Such large earrings, which can be of any of the three types, post, wire or clasp, when stored in the slots or holes, usually protrude too far from the face of the rack and are likely to be bumped, which could damage the earring or the rack, or both. Moreover, larger earrings comprising closed rings or toroidal elements cannot easily be hung from upwardly extending slots because the rings cannot be fit around the cross member, which is continuous across the face of the rack, i.e. not cantilevered. Large earrings are therefore most conveniently hung from a hook or a hook-like element on the rack. Hooks, generally of metal, are provided for such purpose on many racks; however, such hooks protrude from the surface of the rack structural elements and are thus conducive to snagging as by clothing, particularly when the rack is mounted on a door or within the close confines of a closet or dressing room. Cross members of the racks are made as thin as practicable in order to maintain the slender depth of the rack, therefore hooks are difficult to anchor securely into the rack members, especially when the rack is made of wood. Further, protruding hooks, particularly metal hooks on a rack made of wood, detract from the esthetic appearance of the rack.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved rack for storing and displaying earrings.
Another object of the invention is to provide an earring storage and display rack having improved means for hanging large earrings.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved earring storage and display rack that is both functional and attractive, the functional object being to provide an improved hook-like element from which to hang earrings, without detracting from the esthetic appeal of the rack.